It’s difficult to be a secret once you’re an Olympic athlete competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics, but one figure skater is truly an unknown.
Not many people have watched Adeliia Petrosian, 18, compete, but she’s taking the stage at the Olympics in Milan, Italy.
Russia is being excluded from international sports events during its war with Ukraine, and since Petrosian is Russian, she’s competing as a neutral athlete at the event.
According to a report from NBC News out Sunday, Feb. 15, “As she readies to skate to Michael Jackson’s music in the short program Tuesday, no one besides Petrosian and her controversial coach, Eteri Tutberidze, can be sure of her form, or whether she’s injury-free.”
If she gets gold, she’ll make history as the fourth consecutive Olympic champion in the sport who hails from Russia.
According to the NBC report, Petrosian has successfully landed quadruple jumps in Russian national events, and nobody else competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics would be able to compete with her high-scoring elements. So, can she do it in Milan?
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The question is about if she’s fit enough to pull it off. “Fitness has been a factor for months,” NBC News reports. Tutberidze previously told Russian media that Petrosian wanted to give up her place in September’s Olympic qualifier for lower-ranked skaters after an injury but ended up competing because the Russian alternate’s fitness was worse.”
So, now, her Russian fans wait and watch. She’s the Russian with the best chance of earning a gold medal at these Olympics, so she’ll have a lot of support behind her.
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She’s scheduled to compete on Tuesday, Feb. 17, in the ladies’ singles competition. She’ll take the Olympic ice at 12:45 p.m. ET. Competition will end on Thursday, February 19, with the ladies’ free skate.
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